Pizza Doodles
by Totally-Out-Of-It
Summary: AU Arthur/Merlin. One-shot. "It would be funny, she said, if they put something weird in the 'additional instructions' section." Merlin's accidental relationship with a stranger working at the pizzeria.


A/N: Alright, I know everyone's waiting for an update for Dearest PenPal right now, and I am working on that, but I was on Facebook yesterday and StupidFox posted a picture about pizza and a horrible attempt at drawing animals on the box... and then this idea wouldn't leave me, so here's a quick one-shot for you. Totally AU.

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><p>It was a joke during one of Morgana's sleepovers. That particular Saturday, Gwen said she was hungry, so Morgana made Merlin order a pizza over the internet. It would be funny, she said, if they put something weird in the 'additional instructions' section. That first time, they wrote 'draw a fox on the lid.' And when the delivery guy handed over their box, there was definitely a fox curled up and sleeping on the company logo.<p>

"Surprising, isn't it?" Morgana had said.

"Yes. It's really well done for a pizzeria worker," Gwen had agreed.

Merlin took a snapshot with his phone and uploaded it to Facebook. Within ten minutes, Gwen and Morgana had both 'like'd it and commented on the photo, all while they were sitting together in Morgana's tiny living room chewing on cheese and bread.

The next Saturday, Merlin was writing a paper he knew wouldn't be finished until at least midnight. Such paper writing sessions, he'd discovered from Gwaine, were best done while testing out the oddest pizzas you can think of on that particular day. So Merlin brought up the pizzeria website and ordered himself a salami and pineapple pizza with extra cheese. When he saw the 'additional instructions' box, he smiled and remembered the fox. Doubting it would work again, he typed in 'draw a battle scene on the lid'. Despite his doubts, the delivery arrived with a tiny knight poking a dragon in the nose with his sword as it wound its way around the name logo. And this time, Merlin noticed a tiny AP scribbled in the bottom corner of the lid.

After a brief distraction of posting the new photo for all to see, Merlin discovered this particular pizza definitely wasn't to the liking of his taste buds but it did get his head spinning for his paper.

Using money he earned each week at his school job, Merlin began purchasing a pizza every Saturday with some new picture request. Beyond the fox and the knight, he found his lid decorated with a rain scene whose droplets screamed as they collided with the box; a group of three ninjas peeking out from behind the logo; a cat braced on the logo as it reached for a flying bird; and a cute chibi drawing of a scene from Star Wars. Each was surprisingly well done, and each box bore the AP symbol in the corner.

Six weeks flew by, like the money slipping away out of Merlin's pocket, and yet Merlin felt like the days were too slow. He anticipated each Saturday and what new, cute drawing would grace his boxes. He spent his free time thinking up new requests and wondering who the artist could be – what kind of person. He hoped to meet them at least once, and he hoped they would get along. But he had no way of knowing who they were.

So on the seventh week, Merlin requested a special drawing – a drawing using the letters of the artist's name. And there it was on his box, a caricature of the letters A-R-T-H-U-R. Arthur was the artist's name. And Merlin smiled. AP was Arthur's signature.

It was week ten, and finals were approaching. To say goodbye to another semester, Morgana convinced them all to get together at Merlin's apartment for a party. Of course, she said, it wouldn't be proper without the weekly pizza drawing. And so they ordered a meat lover's pizza, and in the special instructions they wrote 'For a farewell, draw a graduate.'

Half an hour later, when the doorbell rang, Merlin opened the door to a handsome looking blonde. He checked Merlin's name and smiled as he handed over the box. The drawing had confetti and the year in block letters and a tiny cheering graduate. Within the confetti was the word 'Congratulations' in large lettering. Merlin grinned at it and handed it over to Gwen to take to the table as he signed the receipt. The delivery man was grinning from ear to ear as he took back his pen and bowed his head to Merlin. With a quick 'enjoy your pizza, Merlin,' he was gone, and Merlin shut the door.

"He was dreamy," Morgana said.

"Yes. I didn't know they made delivery guys that handsome," Gwen agreed, and Morgana teased her for having a boyfriend as caring as Lancelot and not having the chance at the hot pizza guy.

And something flashed in Merlin's mind as she spoke, something about the smile and the glint in the delivery man's eyes, so he turned and dashed from the apartment without explanation and didn't pull the door shut behind him.

"Arthur!" he called out as he got to the parking lot of his apartment complex. The delivery man, who was still standing by his car, door open and waiting, glanced back. He smiled, and Merlin's chest jittered. "You're Arthur," he said.

"You're Merlin," the artist replied. "I was wondering who kept requesting those stupid drawings."

"When you get off," Merlin found himself saying that night on the tenth week of pizza doodles, "you should come back and hang around."

"I don't get off till ten." But Arthur didn't look remorseful. He was still smiling his gorgeous and slightly crooked smile.

"I'll wait up," Merlin said, and his stomach did a twist when Arthur nodded once and said "Right then."

The four of them sat up till two in the morning with stories of Gwen's brother, Elyan, and silly girls like Vivian and Sophia. They talked about degrees and jobs and life and love and games and movies and skills, and the whole time they talked Merlin felt buzzed, because Arthur was looking at him the way Lancelot looked at Gwen. And when morning came, Merlin woke up with his head on Arthur's shoulder and found their hands laying together between them. He flexed his fingers into Arthur's and held them, hoping they could be friends, or maybe more, with lots of pizza doodles and weeks to go.


End file.
